COLLEGE FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : USC : Tackle Gorecki Has Knee Surgery

USC’s injury update, with only Saturday morning’s practice remaining of its two-week preseason camp at UC Irvine:

Senior starting offensive tackle Len Gorecki, who injured his knee last week, has had arthroscopic surgery and is expected to be out of action for at least four weeks.

Senior tight end Brad Banta has a sprained knee, and senior safety Mike Salmon has an ankle sprain. Both are starters and both could miss several more practices. Freshman tailback LaVale Woods’ ankle sprain is high on his ankle and Coach John Robinson said he might not be back until October.

Senior defensive end Elic Mahone, who re-injured a shoulder early in training camp, has had surgery. He will probably sit out the season, but has a redshirt year available.

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The three true freshmen most likely to play this year, according to Robinson: safety Sammy Knight, fullback Taso Papadakis and wide receiver-kick returner Anthony Volsan.

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Asked to name the top pro prospects in camp, Robinson identified defensive end Willie McGinest, wide receiver Johnnie Morton, offensive tackle Tony Boselli and sophomore tight end Johnny McWilliams.

He said McWilliams would be a top NFL prospect in two years.

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Robinson blew up a bit after a poorly thrown pass by backup quarterback Kyle Wachholtz hit the turf yards away from any receiver.

“I don’t want any balls in practice hitting the ground!” he yelled. “This football is our lifeline out here. Protect it. Take care of it.”

At that, he pitched the ball to the center for the next snap. But as the center, Jupiter Ehrlich, put the ball down for the snap, Robinson yelled: “Hey! What’d I just say?”

Ehrlich jumped a foot.

Robinson was kidding. He didn’t mean centers.

Laughs all around.

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Quarterback-turned-safety Reggie Perry on his first meeting with Robinson last January:

“We talked about my moving over to defense a lot, but he got me so excited about this season . . . if he’d asked me to play center, I would’ve said yes.”